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“Why is this planet so angry?” Rey demanded through chattering teeth.
“Look, there’s a cave up ahead,” Poe said, pulling her along through the thick, sodden undergrowth. “We can wait out the storm there.”
Rey muttered something he was sure would’ve bruised his ego if he’d heard it.
They made it to the cave, and Rey collapsed shivering just inside.
“Here, come back a bit, in case the wind picks up,” Poe said, tugging her further inside.
Rey eyed the depths warily and stretched out a trembling hand, eyes closed. Poe waited. After a few moments Rey opened her eyes. “There’s nothing back there except some small wildlife,” she said. Poe nodded, grateful that he didn’t have to manually check the whole area.
“I’m never going to complain about Jakku again,” Rey muttered. “At least when the sand got everywhere it wasn’t cold. It made your skin feel uncomfortable, it didn’t make your bones feel like they were going to fall apart.”
Poe snorted before he could stop himself and Rey glared at him. He shrugged. “It’s not the worst storm I’ve even been in.”
“Some of this rain is literally ice,” Rey said through gritted teeth.
“Yeah, but not in chunks big enough to leave bruises,” Poe said.
“I’ll give you bruises,” Rey muttered.
Poe stuck his tongue out at her.
At least she wasn’t getting any more wet, Rey thought as she settled on the floor of the cave. She took a deep breath and centered herself, then drew her lightsaber. The warmth that blossomed when she ignited it was glorious.
“You sure that’s a good idea?” Poe’s hand closed around her forearm, and Rey opened her eyes to see that she was still shivering, though the arm holding the saber was now steady thanks to Poe.
“It’s warm,” Rey said mournfully.
“Yes, being able to burn through anything does that,” Poe said. His hand slipped over hers and gently pried her finger away from the ignition.
Rey sighed and set the weapon down.
“You can ignite it at a distance, right?” Poe asked, pulling it away.
“Yes,” Rey said cautiously.
“We can at least dry out some of our clothes out then,” Poe said. He stripped off his cloak and overshirt, leaving only his undershirt and breeches, and spread them out on the cave floor, then positioned the saber on a flat rock so that it would extend close to them without incinerating them. He turned back to Rey, who was staring at him incredulously.
“You want me to wear less clothing in this weather?” she demanded. “I’m already freezing--”
“Getting the wet things off will help, trust me,” Poe cut in. “Er…” He blushed slightly. “If you want me not to look I can…”
“No,” Rey chattered, “it’s not that, it’s just so cold.” She took a deep breath then pulled off her cloak and her outer tunic and threw them at Poe.
He spread them out next to his own, then moved the saber so that it was closer to hers.When he turned back, she had curled up tightly, shivering and staring at her knees.
“Hey, it’ll be alright,” Poe told her. He dropped to the floor beside her and put an arm around her shoulders. She leaned into him and he wrapped her in his arms as tightly as he could. He heard the hiss of the lightsaber igniting, but his face was buried in Rey’s hair. His hands weren’t that much warmer than her bare arms, but he ran his hands over them, doing his best to warm her up. Steam from the drying clothes wafted over them, and Poe welcomed the warmth on his own skin. Slowly Rey’s shivers became less violent, and she relaxed against him.
Static came through Poe’s commlink, followed by Finn’s voice. “You two alright out there?”
Poe shifted so he could answer it, and Rey burrowed deeper into his chest. “We found a cave to take shelter in,” he said. “Does it look like it’ll let up anytime soon?”
“It’s moving along,” Finn said. “It’s easing up here, and radar looks like it should be past you in a quarter hour or so, so when it’s clear we’ll make our way over. You might have to climb up, if there isn’t a good landing spot.”
“We’ll manage,” Poe said. “Let us know when you’re on your way?”
“Will do,” Finn said. “Take care of each other, yeah?”
Poe glanced down at Rey. “We always do.”